Panel beater

By MARK STORY

Name: Kaz Van Reemst

Job title: Panel beater

Working hours: 7.30am-5pm

Employer: Warkworth Collision Repairs

Age: 21

Pay: Minimum wage to around $26 an hour. Overtime is also available.

Qualifications needed: A work-based (NZQA recognised) National Certificate in Panel Beating from the Motor Industry Training ITO. Qualified apprentices can sit a three-hour exam to become registered. They can take another five units to become an A-grade panel beater. No high school qualifications are required.

Career prospects: Qualified panel beaters could become insurance assessors, vehicle engineers or get other jobs within the automotive industry. They can also become self-employed, running their own shops.

Q.What do you do?

A. Mostly we repair cars that have been in accidents, but 10 per cent of our work is restoring old cars to former glory. We only do the structural stuff, that means stripping down dented parts that need either repairing or replacing.

If a car's structure is out of whack, we'll spend a lot of time re-welding it back to factory standard.

We also spend a lot of time hammering out or bogging up minor dents. On really bad jobs a lot of time is spent straightening out a car's chassis.

Q. Why did you choose this line of work?

A.My dad worked at a wrecker's yard, so I was brought up around cars. So I've been working on my own cars since I was 13. I was always more interested in working with my hands than school stuff.

After getting some work experience at a panel beater while still at college, I knew that was what I wanted to do.

Q. What skills do you need to become a panel beater?

A. You don't have to be a muscle man to do this work, but you do need to be mechanically minded. Previous knowledge or interest in cars is helpful. Good co-ordination and eyesight is also useful.

There are a few calculations on things like measuring and quoting, so basic maths is also helpful.

You'll probably have people working under you at some stage, so good people skills are important, as is a decent command of English for when you're dealing with customers.

Q. Best part of the job?

A. Seeing the finished product is real satisfying. I really like working on high-performance Japanese cars. Earning added responsibility is really great. I'm responsible for helping to train the two apprentices under me. It's also a buzz to step in as acting foreman when the boss is out.

Q. Most challenging/difficult part of the job?

A. It used to be cleaning the cars, but I don't have to do that any more. Getting the chassis and whole car back into shape after a really bad accident can be tricky. We're in the middle of repairing a four-wheel-drive that's been rolled and it's taking some thinking out.

Q. Any interesting one-off projects?

A. No two jobs are the same, it's just the nature of this business. But restoration work can be fun. I once restored a Valiant Pacer for a local car enthusiast to better than factory standard.

Q. What sort of training do you get?

A. I've just completed my apprenticeship-based National Certificate in Panel Beating. An apprenticeship is all about on-the-job training.

You can't expect to be panel beating from day one. When you're starting out, you have to be prepared to be the dogsbody for a while. But even when you're qualified you never stop learning - that's because every single job is different.

The Collision Repair Association (CRA) runs numerous courses, including, plastic welding, air bags and suspension and alignment.

I can see myself becoming an A-grade panel beater, then taking a small business course. I plan to run my own shop - possibly specialising in customised cars.